I think RickJay is looking at this situation in the wrong way. He’s acting as if New Yorkers are constantly looking for an excuse to condemn Muslims, and are now giving a free pass to bad behavior on the part of Jews. I don’t see things quite that simplisticallly.
IF this story has gotten relatively little attention, it’s because the restaurant in question caters mostly to Hassidic Jews, who have historically been the most clannish and self-isolated people in New York.
There are, undoubtedly, many restaurants in the Wiliamsburg and Crown Heights sections of Brooklyn that have all or nearly all Hasidic patrons. Gentile diners are so rare at such establishments that nobody ever complained about their dress or behavior codes. If anything, Gentiles who heard about their practices probably shrugged and said, “Well, it’s THEIR restaurant, and I was never planning to eat there anyway, so what do I care?”
The reaction would be EXACTLY the same if we were talking about a restaurant operated by and catering to Muslims. If such a Muslim-oriented restaurant required all female diners to wear a chador or head scarf, some Gentiles would scoff, but few would be offended. Most would say, again, “What do I care? I was never planning to go there in the first place.”
What makes Basil’s different is, they have apparently been reaching out to non-Hassidim and even to neighborhood Gentiles. If Basil’s management had continued to appeal exclusively to Hassidim, there would be no story here. But because they were making an effort to broaden their base, there are now significant numbers of Gentiles being affected by the kashrut-certifying body. Gentiles who wouldn’t have cared about Basil’s rules a few years ago are NOW upset. They’re now wondering, "Why did you reach out to us and invite us to dine here if you were going to turn around and change the rules on us???’
Basil’s is facing a dilemma that ANY business faces when it tries to broaden its appeal- how far can you go to accommodate new patrons WITHOUT alienating the original client base you’ve always relied on? Since Basil’s serves pizza, I’m assuming they’re a dairy-oriented kosher restaurant. If an Italian patron asked for pepperoni on his pizza, that would be a big no-no under the laws of kashrut (no mixing meats and cheese). Would the Italian have a right to feel offended, to say, “You’re unfairly forcing your religious rules on me?”
Similarly, if neighborhood Hassidim of a puritanical bent have always come to a certain restaurant in part because they knew they wouldn’t see people in revealing clothes, wouldn’t it be wise of management NOT to alienate those customers by allowing waitresses to wear short skirts?
For a restaurant like Basil’s, this is a real balancing act. I have a lot of sympathy for the management, who are TRYING to make several very different groups happy. I’d have equal sympathy for a Muslim restaurant trying to do a similar balancing act.
I thnk Christians (or agnostics, for that matter) would be inclined to let most resturants set whatever policies they like, and would ONLY become outraged if Muslims (or Hassidim) moved into a new neighborhood, and began demanding that existing businesses start changing their rules to satisfy their religious rules.